Voorbereiding Raad Landbouw en Visserij januari 2008 (en)

The Agriculture & Fisheries Council will meet in Brussels on Monday 21 January (starting at 11 a.m.), under the Presidency of Mr Iztok Jarc, Slovenian Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Food. Commissioners Mariann Fischer Boel (Agriculture and Rural Development) and Joe Borg (Fisheries and Maritime Affairs) will represent the Commission at the meeting.

The points on the agenda are:

Work programme of the Presidency

The Slovenian Presidency will outline the main priorities in the field of agriculture, food safety and fisheries for the first semester of 2008.

Agriculture

Cross-Compliance

In March 2007, the Commission adopted a report to the Council on the application of the system of cross-compliance (see IP/07/440 and COM(2007)147 ). The report also proposed a raft of measures to improve and simplify the system of cross-compliance

At the June Agriculture Council, ministers adopted conclusions (see IP/07/796 ) backing the Commission's report and calling for quick implementation of the proposals made.

On 29 August, the Commission adopted a draft Council decision (see COM(2007)484 ) with regard to the measures that fall under Council competence. The most important changes proposed to the existing system of cross-compliance are:

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  A simplification of the so-called "10-month rule" which obliges farmers to keep at their disposal for 10 months any land parcels declared to activate the single payment scheme. It is replaced by a single date - 15 June - which identifies the farmer who is entitled to make a declaration for the activation of the entitlements.
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  New Member States which apply the SAPS scheme of direct aid will normally have to implement the SMRs from 2009. It is now proposed to allow a three-year phasing-in period before the full application of cross-compliance. For Romania and Bulgaria, this phasing-in period would begin in 2012
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  The introduction of the legal basis for the exemptions for minor infringements (cases of non-compliance which would not trigger the minimum reduction) and the de minimis rule (penalties falling below €50).

For more information on direct payments and the cross-compliance system, see at:

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/markets/sfp/index_en.htm

The Council is expected to reach a political agreement on the Commission proposals.

"Health Check" of the CAP reform

On 20 November, the Commission adopted the Communication "Preparing for the 'Health Check' of the CAP reform". It is a blueprint for streamlining and further modernising the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy. It will build on the approach which began with the 2003 reforms, improve the way the policy operates based on the experience gathered since 2003 and make it fit for the new challenges and opportunities in an EU of 27 Member States in 2007. The reforms have modernised the CAP, but the Health Check represents a perfect opportunity to take the policy review further. It will ask three main questions: how to make the direct aid system more effective and simpler; how to make market support instruments, originally conceived for a Community of Six, relevant in the world we live in now; and how to confront new challenges, from climate change, to biofuels, water management and the protection of biodiversity.

The Communication is designed to kick off a wide-ranging six-month consultation. Next spring, the Commission will return with legislative proposals, which it hopes will be adopted by agriculture ministers by the end of 2008 and could come into effect in 2009.

The press release, the Communication and further information on the "Health Check" are available on the internet at:

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/healthcheck/index_en.htm

Based on a questionnaire from the Presidency, ministers will have a discussion on the Commission Communication.

AOB

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  WTO: State of play of DDA negotiations

Fisheries

EU-Mauretania Fisheries Partnership Agreement

The only fisheries item on the Council agenda is a briefing by Commissioner Borg with regard to the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the EU and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

Last month, the Commission presented a proposal for a Council decision on the termination of the protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and financial contribution under this Fisheries Partnership Agreement. The Commissioner will update Council on the Commission's latest high-level contacts with Mauritania in this context.